Always Believe
by Ms.Carter
Summary: Aaron and Amanda are trying to be together but someone's holding them back. Amanda's ex Matt.


Always Believe  
  
There was a Valentines Dance coming up at my school. I didn't want to go, but all my friends were going, and they kept asking me to go, so I went anyways. I thought that it was going to be really corny and that it was going to be boring. But to my surprise, I was wrong. It changed my life.  
I wasn't dressed up. It was a last minute decision so I didn't have time to get all dressed up. Besides, it was only a dance. I was going there to dance, not to impress anybody. I was wearing a white t-shirt with hip- huggers and a pair of air forces. My hair was up in a messy bun and I was wearing some Calvin Klein perfume.  
When I got to the school dance, my friends were all excited. They thought I wasn't coming, so it was sorta like a big surprise to them. I felt left out because they were all with their boyfriends while me on the other hand, I was by myself. My principal was walking around and he saw me standing against the wall so he started talking to me.  
"Hello. Why aren't you dancing?"  
"I'm just not in the mood right now."  
"Well then, how come you came?"  
"That's a very good question." I laughed. "I think I came here just to get away from my family."  
"Why? What's wrong with your family?"  
"They're crazy that's what's wrong with them."  
My principal laughed and walked away. I still stood there. A few minutes later, my principal stopped the music to make an announcement.  
"I have a little surprise for you." He said. I stared at him. This must be interesting. My principal always came up with the weirdest things. "I'm sure you all know him. He's blonde, he's 15, and he's.he's.what's that new word you kids say nowadays?" He looked around and somebody yelled 'banging'. My principal laughed. "He's banging." All of a sudden Aaron Carter ran out, from the entrance singing 'Aarons Party (Come Get It)'. All the kids moved out of the way so he and his dancers could perform. I stared. I was a huge fan of Aaron. I couldn't believe he was performing right before my very eyes. I caught him looking at me a few times. I smiled at him and he winked. I couldn't believe it!  
After he did a few performances he took a break. He bought a drink from the food/drink stand and walked over to me. I watched as he walked over.  
"Hey." He said, smiling at me.  
"Hey. You put on a great performance." I smiled back.  
"Thanks. If I did such a great performance how come you weren't dancing?" He asked.  
"I'm just not in the mood."  
"Oh c'mon. Your SUPPOSED to be in the mood. That's the whole point of this dance. Your supposed to dance. C'mon, dance with me." He backed away and started dancing. The song that was playing was called "Don't Mess With My Man" by Nivea.  
I laughed. "You cant dance while holding a cup of soda in your hand."  
He handed his soda to a younger kid. He looked like a 6th grader, and then he grabbed my arm and dragged me in the middle of everybody. I just stood there. "Why wont you dance? Please? Can you please dance with me?" He asked.  
"Why do you want me to dance with you? There are plenty of other girls around who wanna dance with you, go dance with them."  
"But I don't wanna dance with them. I wanna dance with you."  
"Why me? What's so special about me?"  
"I don't know whats so special about you. But I'm sure if you dance with me and we talk, I can find out." He smiled.  
All of a sudden, the song was over and a slow song came on. It was called 'I Swear' by Boyz II Men. I smiled. "This is my favorite song."  
"Well then.would you like to dance?"  
I smiled. "I would love too."  
I put my arms around his neck as he put his hands on my waist. As we danced, we talked. Aaron was very sweet and such a gentleman. He danced very good too. The other guys that I slow danced with at other dances a long time ago danced bad, but Aaron danced very well. He went with the flow.  
"So, what's your name?" He asked.  
"Amanda."  
"Nice to meet you Amanda."  
"Nice to meet you too."  
"Can I say something?"  
"Sure."  
"I think your very pretty. And I love your eyes."  
"Thanks." I smiled.  
"Your welcome. While I was performing I couldn't stop looking at you."  
"Yeah. I caught you looking at me." I laughed.  
He blushed. "Sorry. I just thought it was weird how somebody as pretty and sweet like you was all alone against the wall." I looked down. The reason I wasn't in the mood for this stupid dance was that I was having problems and plus I just broke up with my boyfriend Matt. I'm surprised I even came. "What's wrong?" He asked.  
"Oh, nothing."  
"It has to be something. You look like your about to cry."  
"This song reminds me of my boyfriend." I said, crying.  
Aaron let go of me. "Boyfriend?"  
"Well he used to be my boyfriend. We broke up a few days ago. I really miss him." I sobbed. Aaron walked away. "Aaron? Where are you going?" I tried running after him, but his sister Angel walked in my way.  
"Stay away from him." She said, mad.  
"Whoa. Where did YOU come from?" I asked.  
"I come with Aaron on tour and stuff. I watched you two. He was starting to like you and you just hurt him. Stay away."  
"I didn't mean too."  
"Yeah. That's what they all say." She walked away from me. I followed her to find her and Aaron outside talking. I hid behind a corner to hear their conversation. I knew it was wrong but if they were gonna talk about me then I wanted to know what they were saying.  
"I can't wait to get home." Aaron said, looking up at the starry sky.  
"Just because one girl let you down, doesn't mean you should go home and hide. Aaron, there are like a gazillion of girls who like you and now this one screws up and you just wanna go home? Whats wrong with you?"  
"You don't understand Angel. When we danced, it was like, totally different. I felt like we were all alone. Just me and her. I was starting to get to know her. And she's very pretty."  
Angel walked back towards me. I ran inside to act like I wasn't doing anything. She came up to me. "I'm sorry about how I acted." She apoligized.  
"Don't be sorry."  
"Well I am. Aaron really likes you."  
"He can't. He doesn't even know me well enough."  
"Well he says he likes you. And he sounds serious."  
"So, what's your point?"  
"My point is, do you like him back?"  
"Yes of course I do. He's a very sweet guy and very cute may I add." We laughed. She ran outside, and dragged Aaron towards me. We didn't look at each other. We were all quiet until Angel broke the silence.  
"Hello? Are we awake? Is somebody gonna ask the other person out or what?"  
Aaron and I laughed. We looked back up at each other. "Would you like to go out sometime?" Aaron asked.  
"Sure. Right now would be great. I'm having a terrible time at this dance and it's Valentines Day." We laughed.  
"C'mon let's get out of here."  
"You serious? You can't just leave. Don't you have to perform more songs?" I asked.  
"Yeah, but I wanna get to know you better. And that's better than performing." I smiled. He was truly a great guy. I was surprised he didn't have a girlfriend. Especially with all the girls he meets when he tours.  
We held hands and we walked outside towards the grass and we sat down. We stared up at the sky while we talked. The wind felt good against my face. The grass felt soft between my fingers. I watched Aaron as he daydreamed. He looked so cute gazing into space. Then he asked me if I was okay, since I was crying earlier.  
"I'm fine. He's not worth my time anyways."  
Aaron laughed. "Then how come you cried?"  
"I have no idea." I laughed with him. I saw a few flowers nearby. I grabbed them and smelled them.  
"You like those?" Aaron asked.  
"I love all flowers. But my favorite is the rose. It shows how much you care about somebody." Aaron smiled.  
Aaron got up when he heard a few of my friends talking about going to the beach. I got up too. I didn't even know my friends were outside. I thought they were inside dancing. We walked up to them.  
"Hey." I said.  
"Hey." My friend Kristina said. Her boyfriend smiled at me and said 'what's up'.  
"You guys are going to the beach?" I asked.  
"Yup. It's to hot in there. So we're going near the water so we can catch a few breezes." My other friend Jessica said.  
"Cool. Mind if we come with you?" Aaron asked.  
"No, we don't mind."  
When we got to the beach it was so beautiful. I could feel the ocean breeze and it was low tide. Aaron and I walked along, holding hands.  
"If you could eat dinner with any 3 people in the world, alive or dead, who would they be?"Aaron asked.  
I laughed. "Martin Luther King Jr. because he seems like a cool person, Elvis Presley because I wanna see the King of Rock n' Roll perform, and you."  
"Me?" Aaron grinned.  
"Yup."  
"Why me?"  
"Because you're a great person."  
"You're a great person too." Aaron said back to me. We stopped walking and just stood there. The moonlight was reflecting on the water, and on Aaron's face. I took a deep look at him. He seemed so heavenly. We leaned our heads close, and we kissed. His lips were so soft. This kiss felt real. I felt as if I entered Heaven. After we kissed, we smiled.  
We walked back to my school to find that Angel had been waiting for us and that Aaron's mom was looking for us. I waited with Angel and Aaron until their mom came to get them, and then I walked home. Aaron offered me a ride but I needed time to think things over.  
While walking home I thought about the kiss. I really liked it. And I liked Aaron too. He was the kind of guy that I could see myself being with for the rest of my life. He was 'The One'.  
The next day at school, a rumor was going around that I made out with Aaron. When I finally heard it, I felt like I could die. This was so not true. I asked the person who told me who had told them. They told me it was Matt. During lunch, I walked up to Matt.  
"Hey hun." Matt said, grinning. His friends behind him were laughing.  
"Don't you even go there." I said, putting my hands on my waist.  
The principal and Aaron walked into the cafeteria. They were looking for me. Aaron had a surprise for me, so he came back to get me. They saw me talking to Matt.  
"You seem a little mad. What's wrong?" Matt asked, trying to act innocent.  
"Don't try acting like you don't know. You're the one spreading that rumor aren't you?" Matt looked away, grinning. "How could you? I loved you, and I cried for you. And now your treating me like this?" I started crying. "I can't believe this."  
Matt laughed. "Your really pathetic."  
I didn't know what came over me, but I had to do this. I slapped Matt across the face. I was just so angry at him!  
By this time, my principal and Aaron were behind me, and they heard what me and Matt were talking about. Aaron pushed me out of the way, and started laughing at Matt.  
"You're a disgrace man."  
"And what are you?" Matt asked.  
"I'm better than you. I'm more respectful that's for sure. You let down a great girl. Your loss." Aaron took my hand and we sat down at an open table with my principal.  
"Aaron, what are you doing here?" I asked, wiping some tears from my eyes.  
"I have a surprise for you." He smiled.  
"Surprise?"  
"I know that your not supposed to do this, but I figured it would be something to get your mind off things so I'm willing to allow it." My principal cut in.  
"What is it?" I asked, curious.  
"Me and Angel are gonna take you out. We can go anywhere you wanna go." Aaron said.  
"Why are you doing this?" I asked. This was weird.  
"Because I like you. And your going through a tough time. Besides, I just really like you, and before I leave I wanna spend more time with you."  
I smiled. This was really sweet. "Okay, let me just go get my backpack." I walked away.  
As I walked back to my I.L class to get my backpack, I thought about what was going on. I couldn't believe that Aaron was doing this. All I could think was 'why?'. Obviously I knew that Aaron didn't like me. We spent yesterday night together, and we kissed but I'm sure it didn't mean anything to him. It was probably just a first kiss crush thing. He meets pretty girls all around the world every day. So, what I didn't understand was why he was still even hanging around with me.  
When I got back, Aaron smiled at me and kissed me on my cheek. My friends saw, and they were all saying 'aww!!'. I laughed, and then off we went. When I went outside, I saw a parked black limo. Angel was smiling, and standing in front of it. I stared at her with my mouth wide open. This was WAY to much!  
When I sat in it, there was music playing, and there was a TV on. Except the TV was on mute. There was also soda and glasses on a little pop out table. The seats were very comfy. I sat inside first, then Aaron, then Angel. While we were driving, I didn't know what to say to AC and Angel.  
"So what do you think?" Angel asked.  
"It's.it's.it's WAY cool! But, way to much."  
"Nah, it aint to much. It's perfect." Aaron said.  
"I can't believe you guys did this." I said, looking at the sky light above me.  
Aaron pushed a button on my door, and the sky light opened. He climbed up on the seat and stood up. His head was out the sky light.  
"Come on!" Angel said to me, going up just like Aaron, also sticking her head out. I did the same. We all laughed.  
The first stop we made was the mall. We had to stop like 50 times because fans of Aaron's were asking for autographs and pictures. One little boy especially was such a little cutie. He seemed to be like 7 years old. He was singing one of Aaron's songs and he mistakened me for Aaron's girlfriend. He knew who Angel was because he saw her in the magazines with Aaron but he thought I was AC's girlfriend. He tugged at my shirt. I looked down at him while his adorable blue eyes looked up at me.  
"What's your name?" He asked, curious. His grandmother was with him. She laughed.  
I kneeled down. "My name is Amanda. What's your's?"  
"Jacob."  
"Oh. Well it's nice to meet you Jacob."  
"Are you Aaron's girlfriend?"  
I laughed. "No, but I wish I was." I smiled at him. Angel walked over to my side.  
"Aaron has something for you." She grinned.  
"What is it?" I got back up. When I looked at Aaron he was holding a rose in his hand and smiling at me. I stared at him.  
"Well?" Angel asked. "Are you just gonna stand there?"  
I ran up to Aaron and hugged him. I took the rose and smelled it. He smiled and kissed my cheek. "You told me that your favorite flower was a rose, so I got you one." He grinned. "Thanks. I love it." I smiled at him. He was so sweet. Too sweet. As the day went by, we had lots of fun. It was finally time to go home. When I got home, Aaron walked me to my door. "Did you have fun today?" Aaron asked. "Yup. Today was the best." "Good. I'm glad you enjoyed it." He tried leaning over to kiss me, but I turned away. "What's wrong?" "I just don't wanna kiss." "Why not? It's just a kiss. It's not like we're making out. You kissed me on the beach. Why can't you kiss me at your door?" "I just don't wanna end up having feelings for somebody that I know I can't have." "What makes you think you can't have me?" "Oh c'mon Aaron, we both know we can't be together." "Only if we don't want to be together." "I want to be with you. Believe me, I do. I just don't wanna get my heart broken again. I don't wanna take that risk. How do I know you won't do that to me?" "Look into my eyes. Do you think I'm lying when I say that I love you and that I am willing to do anything to be with you? I want to be with you, and I want to get to know you better. We've only known each other for a few days but these few days have been the best days I've had for a long time." I stared at him. He couldn't be serious. He did not just say 'I love you' to me. This was totally weird. I never heard anybody say that to me before. And the way he looked at me was strange. Was this how love was? Where you tell somebody you love them and then you look at them weird? I was feeling weird. I couldn't even talk. I looked deep into his eyes. "You, you really love me?" I asked. "Yes." He smiled. "I wouldn't lie. I know it seems weird because we've only known each other for a little while but I believe in love at first sight. And I never felt like this before about anybody." I hugged him, and I cried. I know it seems corny but it's all I could do. After I hugged him, I kissed him. It felt the same way it did when we kissed on the beach. I knew it was for sure. He was 'The One'. I could tell by his kiss. As time went by, Aaron and I had been together for 5 years. Aaron was now 20 years old, and I was 18. One day while we were visiting his family at a little family reunion they normally have, Aaron proposed. Angel had warned me that Aaron was telling her he had a big surprise for me, but I didn't know that it meant he was gonna propose. Aaron and I had just got done helping his mom and dad clear the table. We just got done eating a awesome dinner. Aaron held my hand and looked at me in a funny way. "Aaron? What's going on? How come you look funny? Your not playing no more April Fools jokes right? Because last time when you got me wet when I had a white shirt on." Aaron laughed. "No. No more jokes. I'm being serious. I have to ask you something." "What is it?" Aaron bent down on one knee and took a black box out of his pocket. He opened it and a beautiful diamond ring was sitting in it. I just stared at him. By this time, his whole family was standing around us. "Amanda," Aaron started. "Do you love me?" "Of course I do." "Will you do something for me then?"  
"Anything." I smiled.  
"Will you marry me?" I just stood there with my mouth wide open. I didn't know what to say. It had only been 5 years. And of course I loved him. But what if marriage wasn't the right answer for all this. What if me and Aaron were wrong for each other? I didn't want to get married to the wrong person. Besides, I was only 18. But then again, I loved Aaron. He meant the world to me. I would do anything for him. Angel came to my side. "So what's the answer?" Angel asked. "Yes." I said, "I would love to marry you." I smiled, looking at Aaron. He got up and put the ring on my finger. He then kissed me. His sisters ran up to me, wanting to see the ring, while his brother was talking to him about where he got the ring. His mom and dad seemed to be okay with it. His mom ran up to me and hugged me. "Welcome to the family." She said, smiling. She was so sweet. Aaron's dad just shook my hand. He was really cool. Aaron and I went outside in his backyard where the pretty ocean was. All I could think of was 'Oh my God I'm getting married to this man. He was now my fiancee.' This was all still a big shock to me. He held my hand as we walked along the beach. The sun was going down. "Aaron, are you sure about this?" I asked. "Of course I am. Why would I ask you, if I wasn't sure?" "I don't know. This just seems weird." "So you don't wanna get married?" Aaron asked. "No, that's not what I'm saying. Of course I wanna get married. I love you, very, very much. I'm just not sure we're ready. And besides, I'm still shocked that we even lasted 5 years." "If your not comfortable, then we don't have to get married." "I'm comfortable as long as you are. You sure you wanna get married? Especially to me? Marriage is a BIG commitment. Once we say 'I do' at the altar, we have promised ourselves to each other. We're gonna grow old together and die together. And maybe even have children. Are you sure you want me to be your wife?" "Yes, I'm sure. During these 5 years, we haven't argued, we haven't broken up, we haven't done anything in which regular couples do. We lasted 5 years without no complaining. We're perfect for each other. I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with you, if your willing to spend the rest of your life with me." I smiled at him. I guess he really WAS serious. "I love you." "I love you too." During the next few months, it was hectic. With the wedding plans, and Aaron touring everywhere, we didn't know what we were doing. We barely saw each other. I had to stay with his family back home so I could get everything ready, while Aaron toured. Aaron and I kept in touch only by phone. His mom and sisters helped me pick out my wedding dress. Angel, Leslie, and BJ were my brides maids. Nick, Craig, and Matt (not my ex boyfriend, another Matt) were Aaron's best men. Lil' Jacob that we met at the mall, was our ring barrier and my niece Alana was the flower girl. We scheduled the wedding to be at St. Mary's church on Valentines Day since that's the day we met 5 years ago at the school dance. The night before the wedding, I couldn't sleep. I was so nervous about the next day. I thought to myself 'What if I tripped in front of all those people?' or 'What if I say something wrong at the altar?'. I was a nervous wreck. There were going to be at least 3 hundred people at this wedding. I certainly didn't want to do anything stupid to embarrass myself. I decided to go outside for some fresh air, so I went on the porch and stared out among the ocean. A few minutes later, somebody tapped me on my shoulder. I jumped. To my surprise, it was Jane, Aaron's mom. "What are you doing up so late?" Jane asked. "I'm nervous about tomorrow." "I was nervous the night before my wedding too." "Really?" I asked, a little relieved. "Yeah. I'm up this late because I'm nervous about the wedding too." "Why are you nervous? Your not the one walking down the aisle hoping she doesn't trip." I joked. We laughed. "I'm nervous because I know as soon as you and Aaron say 'I do' he's not going to be my little boy any more. That's very emotional for a mom." She smiled. "Aww. Stop it Mrs. Carter your gonna get me all crying and stuff." I laughed. "Now none of that 'Mrs. Carter' stuff any more. Your about to be part of the family. Call me Jane." "Wow. This is so weird. Everything's changing now all of a sudden." We laughed. "Well, Jane," I started. This was so weird. "I'll make sure your son is okay. I really love him. I wont let anything happen to him. I promise." "Good. Your gonna be a good wife. I can see it when I see you and Aaron together. He really loves you. When your not here with us, that's all he talks about is you. Amanda did this, Amanda said that." We laughed. "But honey, don't be nervous about tomorrow. If you know that he's the one you wanna be with and your sure you can handle spending the rest of your life with him then you'll be fine. And don't worry about tripping." We laughed.  
"Thanks Jane. You helped me out a lot. I think I'm gonna go to bed now."  
"Your welcome." We walked back together to our bedrooms. All of a sudden while I layed down in my bed next to Aaron I smiled. I was actually excited about tomorrow. Thanks to Jane.  
  
TOMORROW:  
"What am I gonna do about my hair? Oh my gosh, we're gonna be late!" I screamed. I was in Leslie's bedroom. There were people running around, the room was a mess, and little kids were screaming like maniacs. My soon- to-be husband was probably at the church already, standing at the altar.  
"Don't worry about your hair! I got the hairspray and gel and brush! We'll get it up into a nice bun, in no time!" Angel yelled.  
"I have no time for this!" I ran inside the limo outside and yelled to the limo driver to drive straight to the church. He was going to drive, but he stopped because Angel was banging on the door. I opened the door and let her and her sisters in. We were finally gonna get there. My brides maids and I were the only one's late. While driving, Leslie, BJ, and Angel did my hair. When we got to the church, we ran inside. I'll admit, I tripped a few times.  
Leslie, Angel, and BJ ran inside to stand near the altar. Aaron whispered to BJ. "Where's Amanda?"  
"She's um, having problems. But she's coming. Don't worry." BJ whispered back.  
"Okay." I walked in, arm and arm with Bob. My dad couldn't make it, so Bob offered to walk me down the aisle. "Where's mom?" Aaron asked.  
"She's getting the kids at home, ready and then she's coming."  
"Okay."  
When I got up to the altar, I looked at Aaron with wide eyes. He looked so, so not himself in that tuxedo. He looked so different. But I gotta say, he looked very cute in it. We held hands and did what the preist told us to do. The flower girl and the ring barrier came and we said the 2 most scariest words. Before I knew it, I had a ring on my finger and my wedding was over.  
While driving to the reception Aaron and I were talking about our honeymoon and where we would go. We decided to not even go on a honeymoon. We just wanted to spend time with our families. Or should I say Aaron's family. Aaron's family was more of a family to me, than my own family ever was. They were very loving and caring.  
The reception was very fun. Aaron and I danced all night long and the food was delicious. It was really the best day of my life. Everything was perfect. When I got home, I was so tired. Aaron and I finally got to be alone in the bedroom. We talked.  
"Oh my God, today was the BEST day of my life." I said, giving Aaron a big hug.  
He laughed. "It was the best day of my life too."  
"I can't believe this. I'm officially a wife. Actually I'm THE wife of the man I love."  
"And now I'm officially a husband. Now your name is changed too."  
"Oh yeah!" I laughed. "Now I'm Mrs. Amanda Carter. Wow. That sounds different."  
"Yeah."  
As days went by, Aaron and I looked for an apartment. We wanted a house near the ocean. We also wanted it near his family just in case of emergency's. One day while I was looking through a magazine, I found a picture of me and Aaron at our wedding reception. Somebody had taken a picture of us. It was a picture of us cutting the cake. I showed Aaron and he cut it out and framed it. I laughed.  
"Now everybody will know who my wife is." He grinned.  
I laughed. "Your totally crazy."  
Leslie called me up and asked me if I wanted to hang out with the girls. I asked Aaron if it was okay. He said 'yea sure' because he was going to ask me if he could go out on Nicks boat with Nick anyways.  
I drove to Angel's house because that's where us girls were all going to meet. But when I got out of my car a whole bunch of reporters and cameramen were asking me questions and taking pictures.  
"Is it true you married Aaron Carter but are still having an affair?" One reporter asked.  
"What? No, of course not!" I yelled. Blocking my face from the camera's.  
"Is it true you only married him because he's rich?"  
"What is wrong with you people?! I did not marry him because he's rich! Leave me alone!" I ran inside Angel's house.  
"What's going on?" Angel asked, when she heard the door slam. She was doing her hair in the bathroom. Every time I saw Angel, she was doing her hair. She loved her hair. I had to admit, her hair was very pretty.  
"The reporters were asking me stupid questions! And some camera people were taking pictures of me."  
"What sort of questions?"  
"Like, 'Is it true you married Aaron Carter but are still having an affair?' or 'Is it true you only married Aaron Carter because he's rich?'. They're crazy!"  
Angel laughed. "They just wanna screw up your marriage. You know, that's why most celebrity marriages don't work out, because the reporters ask the celebrity's spouse some questions and they answer them but the reporters write something different and then their spouse reads it and they end up getting a divorce."  
I stared at her with my mouth wide open. "Do you think."  
Angel laughed. "Don't worry. Aaron won't believe it."  
"You sure?"  
"Yeah. Aaron never reads those magazines anyways."  
When Leslie and BJ met us, we decided to go to the mall. Surprisingly people were talking to me. Actually they were Aaron's fans. They were asking me if I could say hi to him for them. I thought it was so cute how all these kids looked up to him like that. One kid even asked me for a picture.  
Angel, Leslie, BJ and I all bought a lot of stuff from shopping. Our feet were killing us, and our stomachs were aching for food. We went to the food court and ate almost everything in sight. I guess we all forgot to eat breakfast. We each paid for our own food. I was last to order. While the girls were sitting down, I was still looking for what I wanted to eat. Somebody came from behind me and put their arms around my neck as in like a hug. I looked up to see who it was. It was Matt.  
"Wow. Matt, where did you come from?" I asked, taking his arms off of me.  
"I've been here and there. So I heard about your marriage. I didn't believe you'd still be with that guy."  
"Yeah, well you were wrong." By then, I had gotten my food. I was about to go sit down with the girls but Matt stopped me.  
"Amanda?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I gotta tell you something."  
"What is it? It better be quick because I wanna get back to my friends."  
"I love you." He kissed me on my lips. I didn't know this, but Matt was teaming up with poparazzi. The camera guy was hiding behind some chairs, and was taking pictures.  
I pushed him away. "What's wrong with you?!" I screamed.  
"I'm sorry."  
"Yeah! Well you should be! You ever do that again, and your gonna get seriously hurt!" I walked back to the table. The girls looked at me like I was some crazy nut.  
"Why were you screaming?" BJ asked.  
"My ex boyfriend kissed me!" I yelled.  
"You serious?" Angel asked.  
"Yes!"  
"Wow." Leslie said, in shock. "Two men want you."  
"Want me? Well Matt better back off because I'm already taken. And I got a f****** ring to prove it." I said with an attitude. The girls laughed.  
After doing all this shopping we decided to go clubbing. We just felt like dancing. We went to my house first, to go find Nick and Aaron to see if they wanted to come along. They were home alright. They were sitting on the couch in their shorts watching a football game. They were all wet and eating potato chips. When the girls and I entered the house by the back porch sliding door, we noticed that the floor was soaking wet.  
"Aaron?" I yelled.  
"Amanda?" Aaron jumped up from the couch.  
"Um, there's a such thing as getting dried, before you enter the house to watch a football game." I said, trying to walk across the floor without slipping.  
"Sorry." He said.  
"It's okay. Um Aaron," I started. I was so scared to tell him this. I didn't want him to get mad at me. I looked at Angel and she was mouthing me to tell him what happened at the food court in the mall.  
"What?" Aaron asked.  
"I have to tell you something."  
"What is it?"  
"You have to promise not to get mad."  
"I won't. I never get get mad at you. What's up?" He came over to me, and kissed me. Then he smiled.  
"Don't smile. Please."  
"It's that bad?"  
"Well kinda."  
"Just tell me."  
"Well, at the food court in the mall while I was ordering my food, Matt kissed me." I looked down, ashamed that I even said that.  
"What?"  
"Please don't get mad. I pushed him away, and I screamed at him so I think he learned his lesson."  
"He kissed you?"  
"Yes."  
"Where the hell is that son of a." Aaron got mad and started running to the door.  
"Aaron!" I yelled. Pulling him away from the door. "It's done and over with. Just forget about it."  
"You sure? Because I can go and knock him out for you if you want me too."  
"I'm sure."  
"Okay, well since we're done with that, do you two guys wanna come clubbing with us?" Leslie asked.  
"Sure." Nick said. He took a towel that was apparently on the floor and started drying himself. Then he put his t-shirt back on and his pants and started combing his hair with one of Aaron's combs. Aaron did the same.  
After we all got ready, we were off. The club we went to, was really cool. The lights were off, and the music was great. When we found a table to sit at, the girls and I left our pocketbooks there and then we went out on the dance floor. Aaron and Nick didn't want to dance yet. They just wanted to relax and listen to the music for a little while. The song that was on was "Don't Mess With My Man" by Nivea. Angel, Leslie, BJ, and I LOVED this song so we started dancing. But after a few minutes, a whole bunch of guys wanted to dance with us. So I walked away. I watched as Angel, Leslie and BJ danced with 3 hot guys. I laughed. Leslie almost tripped. It was hilarious.  
I sat between Aaron and Nick at the table. After I sat down, me and Aaron's wedding song "I Swear" by Boyz II Men came on. Aaron smiled at me and asked me if I wanted to dance. I said yes and we went on the dance floor. While dancing, I noticed a bunch of girls staring at Aaron. I wasn't exactly liking that idea.  
When Aaron and I sat back down, so did Angel, Leslie, and BJ. I guess they wanted to rest. Aaron went to the bar to go get some soda's. A few second's later, Leslie tapped me on my shoulder.  
"What is it?" I asked.  
"Some girl is hitting on Aaron." She whispered to me.  
I looked over to see Aaron shaking his head no while some brunnette leaned closer and closer to him. By now, Nick, Angel, and BJ saw what was happening too.  
"Oh no she did not just lean near him." I said, getting all mad. Nick laughed. I got up and started walking towards Aaron.  
"Where are you going?" Nick yelled from the table.  
"To go get my man!" I yelled back. When I got up to Aaron and the girl, Aaron stared at me.  
"Who's this?" The brunnette said.  
"Oh, me?" I asked.  
"Yeah, you."  
"Amanda, I swear, I didn't do anything." Aaron said, putting his hands in the air.  
"You know her?" The brunnette asked.  
"Of course he knows me. I'm his wife." I said.  
"Holy s***." She said backing away.  
"Yeah, well if you ever, and I mean EVER try touching my husband again, your gonna have this ring mark on your face, you understand?" I said, showing her my ring and then putting my hands on my waist.  
"No way. I won't touch him."  
"Yeah, you better not. Just be lucky I didn't kick you're a** right now." Aaron and I started walking away when the brunnette pulled my hair from behind. I yelled, and Aaron backed away. Leslie, Angel, and BJ ran up to me, and started beating the crap out of the brunnette. Then when they were finished, I pinned her down.  
"Don't mess with me." I tried saying, out of breath. Nick was hanging over me.  
"If you mess with her, you'll mess with me." He grinned.  
She kicked me and started hitting Nick. Aaron jumped in. It became this huge fight. Obviously we won because it was 6 against 1. We got kicked out of the club and we weren't allowed to go back.  
"I can't believe she tried hitting on you." I said to Aaron.  
"I can believe it." He smiled.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Nothing." He kissed me on my cheek. "I was only playing."  
"I hope so. Because I mean if you want her, you can have her, I'll totally understand."  
"No, of course not. I love you. I don't want her."  
"Oh, okay."  
We decided to get a bite to eat. We went to some fancy restaurant. I felt a little weird. I never went to a fancy restaurant before. Aaron could tell that I was uncomfortable.  
"Are you okay?" He asked.  
"Um, yea. I'm fine."  
"You don't look it. Is something wrong?"  
"No, everything is fine."  
"Are you uncomfortable?"  
"No. Why would you think that?"  
"Because your acting like it. If your uncomfortable, we can just go home and cook something."  
"Can we?"  
"Yeah, if you want too."  
"Nah."  
"Why not?"  
"Because what about Nick, Leslie, Angel and BJ? I'm sure they wanna stay here."  
"Let's find out."  
"No, Aaron don't!" I yelled.  
"Hey guys, do you wanna stay here, or go home and we can get a home cooked meal?" Aaron asked.  
They all said at the same time "Let's go home."We pushed our chairs in and walked out. Boy, was I relieved. I felt so much better. I never felt comfortable in fancy restaurants. I just felt that I never fitted in.  
The next day, when Aaron and I went to the convienent store to go get a newspaper, I noticed a few magazines that had a picture of me and Matt kissing at the food court. I didn't say anything because I didn't want Aaron to notice it but eventually he did.  
The magazine cover was titled "Newly wed, cheats on her husband!! Is it a secret affair?" Aaron took the magazine off the stand, and stared at the picture. The picture looked as if I enjoyed kissing Matt. I didn't even expect it!  
"Is this the kiss you were telling me about?" Aaron asked.  
"Yes. But the picture is wrong. The picture looks like I enjoyed the kiss. I didn't even kiss him. He kissed me unexpectedly." I said trying to explain.  
"Pictures don't lie."  
"Well this one does. Aaron, I wouldn't cheat on you. If you loved me, you would know that."  
Aaron turned to the story inside about me and Matt and started reading some of it out loud. " 'She may be Aaron Carter's new wife, but it seems she has other boyfriends too. She apparently just married Aaron Carter on Valentines Day but was caught kissing this man 3 days later. This man claims they have been having a relationship and that he didn't even know she was married." Aaron just stared at me.  
"Aaron, you can't possibly believe that." I said, about to cry.  
"Pictures don't lie." He said once again.  
"Aaron, please." I was crying by now. "It's not true."  
Aaron took his ring off his finger and threw it on the floor. He put the magazine down and ran out the store. He got in his car and drove away. Leaving me behind.  
I picked up the ring and put it in my pocket. Then I took a nice long walk back to Aaron's house. I figured his sisters would be there. I needed someone to talk to, so I figured if his sisters were home, I could talk to them.  
When I got to his house, Nick was sitting outside on the front porch. He stared at me as I walked up next to him. "Nick, are your sister's home? I really need to talk to them." I wiped my eyes because I could still feel tears coming down on my eyes.  
"My whole family is gone. They went for a drive. What's wrong? Why are you crying?"  
I sat down on one of the lawn chairs next to him. He sat up straight and tall and listened closely. "I think in a few days, I'll be getting divorce papers in the mail."  
Nick looked at me with wide eyes. "Why? What happened?"  
"Aaron saw a magazine with a picture of me and my ex-boyfriend Matt in it, and totally freaked. I tried explaining, but he took it all the wrong way."  
"What was the picture of?"  
"It was a picture of me and Matt kissing. But it was un-expected. It happened at the mall during the food court. But the picture looks like I enjoyed the kiss. I really didn't. I yelled at Matt for it."  
"Did you tell Aaron that?"  
"Yes! But for some reason, he doesn't believe me." I got up and headed toward the guestroom.  
"Where are you going?" Nick asked, curiously as he followed.  
"To pack my bags. I'm going home." I took my suitcases out of the closet and started throwing my clothes in it.  
"But, you just moved in, you can't just leave on us."  
"I have too. Tell your family I said good-bye and hopefully we'll see each other again." I walked hurriedly towards my car.  
"Please, don't leave. You're just giving up to easy."  
I put my hand in my pocket and and took the ring out. I put it in Nick's hand. "Give it back to him." I started my engine. "Oh, wait. Here's mine. Maybe he can sell them as a set or something." I got back in my car and gave a final wave.  
"I can't give these to him." Nick yelled.  
"Yes you can. Bye Nick!" I drove off.  
  
When I finally returned home, with all my stuff, my mom was so disappointed.  
"I can't believe you just left like that!" She yelled. My mother was crazy.  
"What else was I supposed to do?!"  
"Work it out with him! He was your boyfriend for 5 years, and your husband for what? A few days? You two were meant for each other, and you screwed everything up!"  
"Don't blame all this on me, okay mom?!I loved him! I didn't expect him to not listen to me! He was supposed to trust me!"  
We had a very long argument. My mom and I never spoke to each other after that. Only once in a great while we would say hi. I did end up getting divorce papers in my mailbox. I cried while looking at them. I didn't think it would really happen but I guess it was true, poparazzi love to break up celeb marriages. When I signed my signature on the paper, I put it back in the envelope and cried even more. I couldn't believe that I was going through with this.  
A few days later, we had to show up in court. Aaron looked so different. He had a different hair style, he was taller, and he seemed more confident than I was. While standing there with my lawyer, I almost broke down in tears. I couldn't stand looking at Aaron as his lawyer explained the divorce papers to the judge. When the judge finally divorced us, I went outside for some fresh air. Aaron's family had all been with him. I also noticed that Aaron had a new girlfriend. From what I overheard, her name was Lisa. Somebody tapped me on my shoulder. I turned around, and there was Angel. "Hi." I said, looking down.  
"I watched you through the whole thing." Angel said looking me straight in the eyes. "You almost cried."  
I started crying. "I didn't want it to end." I hugged her.  
"Well, then how come you signed the papers?"  
"Because he asked for a divorce and because he wouldn't listen to me. He just doesn't love me. He changed so much.I've thought about him every day since I left. I bet, he hasn't thought about me at all. He must hate me."  
"He sent you the divorce papers but just so you know, he hasn't been himself since you left. He's been yelling at everyone, he hasn't done a concert in months, he's barely eating, one time he called his girlfriend 'Amanda' and I even caught him sitting by the phone one night, and he almost dialed your number! He loves you too. He's just trying to act like he doesn't."  
"But how could he think I would do that?" I looked at him, and he looked straight at me.  
"Go talk to him. At least say hi." Angel bugged me.  
"No way. If I do that, I'll have a breakdown."  
"Oh c'mon." Angel grabbed my arm and pulled me over to Aaron. He was talking to his mom and dad. Aaron looked at me like he was just meeting me for the first time.  
"Hi Jane.Hi Bob."I started.  
"Hi Amanda. How are you?" Jane asked.  
"I'm doing okay.hanging in there."  
"How's your family?" Bob asked.  
"They're fine. They miss you guys though." Bob and Jane said that they missed them too, and then they walked away.  
"I brought this. I thought you might want it back." Aaron handed me my ring.  
"I don't need it. Keep it. Give it to Lisa."  
"It doesn't fit her. Besides, it was especially made for you."  
"Aaron I hope you understand."  
"What?"  
"I."  
"What?"  
"I've thought about you every day since I left. I miss you, and I love you. I don't care whether or not I signed those stupid papers and came to court. I still have feelings for you." I kissed him on the cheek and ran off.  
  
A few days later, while at my mom's house, I got a phone call. It was a long distance phone call from Aaron. My mom answered it.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi, is Amanda home?"  
"Aaron?"  
"Lucy?"  
"Oh my God! How are you?"  
"I'm doing really bad. I really need to talk to Amanda. Is she home?"  
"Yes. Hold on." My mom yelled for me, and I picked up my phone in my room. I know it's sad to still be living with my mother, but hey, I was having a breakdown at the time.  
"Hello?" I answered.  
"Hi."  
"Aaron?" I asked, excitedly.  
"Are you busy?"  
"No, actually I'm not. I haven't been busy in days. All I've been doing is crying." I confessed.  
"Amanda, I just want to tell you that I miss you too."  
"Aaron stop."  
"Stop what?"  
"Don't say anything. It's over and we gotta keep it that way."  
"We don't have too."  
"What about Lisa?"  
"She left me the day we went to court."  
"And why did she do that?" I asked, angrily.  
"She saw you kiss my cheek and got mad."  
"Oh. I'm sorry."  
"It's okay."  
"You really hurt me when we you signed the divorce papers and sent them to me." I told him.  
"What? You're the one who sent them to me first."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"Are you trying to say you never asked for the divorce?" Aaron asked.  
"Why would I do that? I left you, but I never sent you any divorce papers."  
"Who sent us the papers then?"  
I thought real hard about who would do that. Then I knew who it was. "It's Matt!" I screamed. "I can't believe that little."  
"Amanda, calm down."  
"Calm down?! He's the one who broke us up and you expect me to calm down?!"  
"Yes. Don't worry, we'll get him back."  
  
A few days later, Aaron and I decided to have lunch together. He drove up to Rhode Island to come see how I was doing. We went to McDonalds since that's his favorite restaurant. I went to the ladie's room to freshen up, when I looked to the side of me. I saw Matt. He was with a girl and a little baby girl and he was staring at me. I went up to him.  
"Do I know you?" Matt asked, acting stupid.  
"Yes, in fact you do. You ruined my marriage, and you used to be my jr. high sweet-heart you jerk." I yelled.  
"Excuse me?"  
"YOU sent fake divorce papers to me from Aaron! YOU paid the damn photographer to take that picture of me and you together! YOU tried messing up my life because YOU were jealous!" I screamed. The girl got up and grabbed her baby. She backed away. "I'd stay away from him if I were you. He's a liar and a cheat." I told her.  
"Thanks for the info." She said. She walked out with her baby.  
"Look what you did!" Matt yelled.  
"It hurts to see your loved one leave you, doesn't it?" I asked. Matt just shook his head.  
"You should've never did that." Matt said, angrily.  
"Why? What are you gonna do? Punch me? Go ahead, I'd like to see you try." I laughed and started walking towards the ladie's room again. Matt grabbed my hair, and pulled me back towards him.  
"Say you love me, right now." Matt yelled.  
"No! Stop it! Your hurting me!" I screamed.  
" Say it!"  
Aaron ran up to us and punched Matt. "You better stay away from her, you hear me?" Matt nodded his head yes. "C'mon Manda. You okay?" I was going to answer him, when Matt came from behind and pushed me into the wall.  
"You son of a." Aaron yelled. He went to punch Matt again, but unfortanately missed. Matt swung back and got Aaron right in the stomach. I jumped on Matt's back and went insane. I almost choked him!  
After the fight, police came and asked us a whole bunch of questions. Aaron and I only got a few bruises and Aaron's stomach was hurting him. Matt got arrested and he threathned me that he would come back to get me.  
"How long will he be in jail?" Aaron asked the police officer.  
"Until you guys go to court. Then it's up to the judge to decide what happens."  
"Should she get a restraining order just in case?"  
"Aaron, he's not coming back. Don't worry about it." I said calmly.  
"Yeah, but I just want to make sure you're okay."  
"I'll be fine."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes."  
We went back to my house and Aaron helped me pack my bags. We decided that I could live with him and his family until everything got settled down. My mom liked our decision. She thought we were going back out again, but we decided to just stay friends. We decided that seeing different people would probably be much easier.  
When we got to his house, everyone was excited to see me. His mom screamed and ran up and gave me a hug. His dad even gave me a hug. That's surprising because before, he only gave me a handshake. Aaron's sister's asked how I was and they kept blabbing on and on about how I changed and how they missed chatting with me. Nick gave me a hug and whispered in my ear 'I knew you'd be back.' I just looked at him and gave him one of my fake smiles.  
Aaron announced that we were only friends so everybody wouldn't get everything messed up. We explained what about the fight with Matt and how I was in hiding. I got to stay in the nice guestroom. I put my stuff away and sat outside on one of the lawn chairs looking out over the water. Aaron came and sat down next to me. He opened up his hand that was closed in a fist and showed me our wedding rings.  
"I didn't sell them like Nick told me you wanted me too." Aaron began.  
"I didn't."  
Aaron cut me off. "Don't even say anything."  
I didn't say anything because he didn't want me too. But then I had to say something. "I didn't want to keep it, because."  
"Because what? Because you knew you loved me and you just didn't want to get reminded?"  
"Sort of." I confessed. "You just really hurt me and I didn't need to look at my wedding ring to remind me of everything all over again."  
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you."  
"It's okay."  
"No it's not okay. Because of me not believing you, we actually got a divorce, we split up and now we're not together."  
"Don't blame it all on yourself. I should've known Matt was up to something."  
"Well it's not that easy. But we can still be friends right?"  
"Of course. Always and forever."  
Aaron smiled, and walked back inside. Angel came outside in her pajama's.  
"I told you he still loves you." She grinned.  
"We're just friends. That's all." I said.  
"You know you would go back out with him if he asked." She teased.  
"In a heart-beat!" I screamed. We laughed.  
  
The next day the girls and I headed straight to the mall. We shopped for hours and we bought practically every hair thing you could think of. We bought fake hair, hair ties, hair spray, hair dye, everything! When we came home we saw Nick and Aaron sitting on the couch talking. We decided to be nosey and listen to see what they were talking about. Aaron was showing Nick 2 pieces of paper and explaining what they were.  
"That's the chorus. Does it look okay to you? I want to finish it in time for tonight so she can listen to it and understand that it's true." Aaron explained. All his sisters looked at me.  
"What you looking at me for?" I whispered. They quietly laughed. "C'mon follow me." I said. I got up and walked into the living room. "Hi guys." I said, carrying 5 bags. They jumped up and Aaron grabbed the 2 papers from Nick's hands.  
"Oh, um hi Amanda. How was the mall?" Aaron asked.  
"It was fine. What's that in your hand?" I asked.  
"Oh, this?"  
"Yes. The papers in your hand."  
"They're nothing."  
"Can I see?"  
"NO!" Aaron yelled.  
I jumped. "Are you okay?" I asked.  
"Yeah.I just had a little spasm I guess." Aaron's sisters laughed and Nick gave a little smirk.  
"How come you let Nick see the papers but not me? Is it something about me?"  
"No of course not." Aaron walked behind the couch so I couldn't reach him.  
"C'mon, let me see it."  
"No."  
"Why not?"  
"It's just a song I wrote."  
"Oh cool. Can I see it then if it's just a song?"  
"No."  
"Why not?"  
"You'll be hearing it later."  
"I will?"  
"You will." Nick cut in.  
"I'm gonna be singing some songs from the new album to my family. This is one of the songs. You'll hear it later with my family." Aaron said.  
"Okay." Aaron's sister's and I headed toward my room to do our hair. We did each other's hair nice, nice and then Jane called us down for a family meeting. Aaron was all dressed up in a nice cute hawaiian t-shirt that wasn't buttoned, it was opened up, and he was wearing tan shorts. His hair was geled down. He had a few of his friends over, and some of the people from the studio were there to mix the music and play the beat and Aaron sat on a stool with a microphone in his hand. He seemed a little nervous which was weird because he sings in front of huge audiences everywhere around the world, why was he scared now?  
I looked at Aaron and he looked at me kind of in a sad way but he kind of smiled. I sat down on the family's comfy couch and I stepped on some papers that were on the ground. I went to go pick them up, but Aaron seen it, and snatched the papers away from me.  
"What was that about?" I asked.  
"This is the lyrics for one of my songs. I need it to perform."  
"Okay."  
Aaron got back on his stool and looked at his brother very nervously. Nick just grinned and nodded his head yes as if Aaron asked him a question in secret code or something. Jane sat down next to me. She smiled and told me that she couldn't wait to hear some of Aaron's new songs.  
Aaron played awesome songs. But then the beat changed to a slower pace. He started singing a song which he announced, was called 'I'm All About You'. He said he had been working on it for a long time and now it was just right.  
The song was really cute. After he sang it, he started talking to his friend Craig who had come over. Craig was sitting next to me. When Aaron went in the kitchen to go get a drink, me and Craig had a conversation.  
"Hey Amanda, do you know who Aaron wrote that for?" Craig asked.  
"No. Who'd he write it for? Lisa?"  
"Lisa?! What are you crazy? Every day when we hung out he always told me how much she annoyed him, and you think he wrote it for Lisa?"  
"Well, I don't know. Who'd he write it for then?"  
"You."  
"What do you mean me? He couldn't of possibly."  
"Yes he could. And he did. He's been working on it since you two broke up."  
"Are you serious? Or are you playing me?"  
"I'm dead serious. I wasn't even supposed to tell you so don't tell Aaron but he really did write that song about you."  
"That's really.really.weird." I laughed.  
"Are you two back together?"  
"No. We're just friends."  
"Wow. You must feel so weird now."  
"Yeah. Especially since now I know he wrote a song about me."  
After my conversation with Craig, everybody left and I saw Aaron run upstairs. I decided to follow him and talk to him about the song. I found him sitting on his bed in his bedroom. I knocked on his open door and asked if I could go in.  
"Sure." Aaron answered. I sat down next to him on his bed and looked around. Nothing really changed since I used to live here with him. He still had our wedding picture framed, up on the wall.  
"You still have that up there?" I asked.  
Aaron looked at the picture. "Yeah. I um, haven't had any time to take it down."  
I laughed. "You haven't had any time to take it down? How hard is it to take a picture off the wall?" I asked.  
"Why do you care so much anyways?" Aaron asked, kind of irritated.  
"I just figured."  
"Just forget about it okay?"  
"Okay, fine." It was quiet for a few minutes. "Hey, Aaron."  
"Yeah?"  
"I just want to tell you."  
"Yeah?"  
"I really liked the last song you sang."  
"Really?"Aaron seemed a little bit more happy.  
"Yeah, but how come you wouldn't tell me that it was about me?" I asked, slowly.  
Aaron looked at me with wide eyes. "How did you know?" He studdered.  
"Let's just put it this way.a little bird told me."  
"Which one was it? Craig or Nick? I'm gonna kill them."  
"To be honest, it was Craig."  
"Wait till I see him."  
"How come you were hiding that from me?" I asked.  
"Because, I thought you might think it was stupid because we're not together anymore."  
"Of course I don't think it's stupid. I thought it was beautiful."  
"But don't worry.I didn't write that to get back together with you or anything.we're still friends.right?"  
"Yeah." I got up, ready to leave when Aaron called my name. "Yeah?"  
"All the words I said in the song, I really meant them." He smiled. I smiled back and left his room. I told his mom that I would be going for a walk around town. It was a little past seven.  
"Do you want one of Nick or Aaron's security guards to walk with you just in case Matt's around?" Jane asked.  
"No, it's okay. I'll be fine by myself."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I'm positive." I put on a sweater and left the house.  
It was a little chilly out but not to cold. I walked along the streets by myself just thinking about everything. My life was so weird. I also started thinking that I was starting to have feelings for Aaron again. But I knew I couldn't. I had to stay friends with him and that's it. We had a deal.  
I heard someone's footsteps behind me. I got a little worried and started heading towards some nearby woods to see if the footsteps would keep following me. They did. I started running, and so did the person behind me. They started chasing me. I couldn't see because it was dark out. The person behind me grabbed me, pulled me around so I faced them and pushed me against a nearby tree. They took out a pair of handcuffs and put one cuff on my hand, and the other on the tree. He laughed and then I knew who it was. It was Matt!  
"What are you doing?!" I screamed.  
"I'm locking you up, you idiot, what does it look like I'm doing?"  
"What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be in jail!"  
"I was only there for a few days then they let me out. I'm free baby." He smiled and grabbed my face and looked straight into my eyes. "You thought you could get away with it, didn't you? Well now that little mother can't protect you."  
"Just leave me alone Matt. Please." I begged.  
"Say Aaron's a loser. Say you don't love him."  
"No!" I screamed.  
"Now! If you don't, I will kill you."  
"There's no way I'll say that! You can't make me!"  
"This knife can." He took out a pocket-knife and held my face close to it.  
He let go of my face and then slapped me a whole bunch of times. I cried and I tried to get free, but I couldn't. Matt punched me twice and I had a black and blue eye and a bloody lip. He tied a tight rope around my neck to try suffocating me. He eventually gave up on me and just left me there in the woods by myself. I cried myself to sleep because I had nothing else to do.  
  
A few hours later Aaron came downstairs from his room to get a snack. He saw his family watching a movie, but he didn't see me. He asked if anyone seen me.  
"She went for a walk, a few hours ago." Jane said, calmly.  
"WHAT?! How could you let her just go for a walk?!" Aaron yelled dropping his soda can he got out of the fridge.  
"She just wanted to go for a little walk! I figured she'd be back soon!" Jane yelled back.  
"What if she's hurt?!"  
"Just calm down, we'll all go and find her."  
"I can't believe you did this."  
The family went in their car and looked around for me. I wasn't anywhere on the streets walking around. They checked the local stores and I wasn't there either. Aaron looked around and saw some woods.  
"I don't even wanna check but I think we should try the woods." Aaron said. They parked their car, and went in the woods. Everyone separated and went their own ways.  
Aaron went a long ways through thorns and everything. He passed a few bushes and then that's when he finally seen me cuffed to the tree. He woke me up.  
"Amanda? Amanda? Are you okay? Wake up."  
I opened my eyes a little bit. "Aaron?" I said, slowly.  
Aaron moved my hair away from my face and he untied the rope around my neck. "What happened to you?" He asked.  
"I, I got beat, beat up." I tried explaining. I couldn't say much because for some reason I was coughing up blood.  
"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get some help." Aaron said. He ran back to his family, and they called 911 on Nick's cell phone. The paramedics arrived in just a few minutes and Aaron lead them towards me. They broke the cuff off the tree and rushed me to the hospital so I could get checked on.  
When I woke up in the hospital, I saw Aaron watching TV while he was holding my hand.  
"She's up!" Angel said, excitedly.  
"Hi. Am I in a hospital?" I asked, still tired.  
"Yeah. You went for a walk and got beat up in the woods. You're a little bruised up but they said you were gonna be okay." Aaron explained.  
"I tried so hard to get away." I cried.  
"Shhhh." Aaron said, trying to calm me down. "It wasn't you're fault. You must of not seen them."  
"I did see them."  
"Who hurt you?"  
"Who do you think?"  
"Don't even tell me it was Matt." Aaron said angrily. I shook my head yes. "I hate that guy."  
"He was supposed to kill me." I said softly.  
"What do you mean?"  
"He said he was gonna kill me if I didn't repeat what he said."  
"What did he want you to say?"  
"He wanted me to say that you were a big loser and that I didn't .love you." I cried.  
"I think we better leave." Angel said motioning her family to leave. They left, and it was only me and Aaron.  
Aaron sat real close to me and looked me in the eyes and held my hand tightly. "How come you didn't repeat after him? Maybe he wouldn't have beat you so badly."  
"I couldn't say it." I said, still sobbing, and squinting at him.  
"Why couldn't you say it?"  
"Because I don't mean it."  
"You should've still said it. You don't deserve this."  
"He could've stabbed me 50 times and I could've died, and I would be happy because I didn't repeat what he told me too." Aaron was quiet for a little while. He just looked at me real seriously. "I don't know how to say this Aaron.but.I love you."  
"We're not supposed to say that remember? You're the one who wanted that deal.you said you just wanted to stay friends.remember?"  
"I know I said that, but that was the whole reason for the walk I took. I was thinking about how I feel and I really do love you."  
Aaron leaned toward me and kissed me. "I love you too." He smiled.  
A few hours later, I got released from the hospital. We all went home, and went to sleep. Aaron kept coming in the guestroom and checking on me. He was getting me so annoyed.  
"Aaron, for the last time, I'm fine." I said.  
"You sure?"  
"Yes. Go get some sleep."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes." I laughed.  
"I can stay with you until you go to sleep if you want." Aaron suggested.  
"If you leave, I'm sure I can go to sleep by myself."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes."  
"Okay." Aaron started closing the door behind him but looked back in. "Are you really sure?" He asked.  
I threw one of my pillows at him. "Yes, I'm sure!" I laughed.  
"Sorry, I'm just worried about you, you know?"  
"I'm fine."  
"No you're not. You're beat up. How can you say you're fine?"  
"I don't feel as bad as I look."  
"Well if you need anything, I'm in the next room, just scream or bang on the wall or something, and I'll be here in 1 minute."  
I laughed. "Okay."  
"You promise you'll get me, if you need anything?" Aaron asked.  
"Yes."  
"You lying?"  
I laughed. "No."  
"Okay." Aaron left, and I finally got to go to sleep.  
  
The next morning, we had a big breakfast. The family was so nice to me. My mom called me, long distance. She heard about what happened. She wanted to make sure I was okay. She kept me on the phone for 45 minutes. I could've killed her.  
After breakfast, everybody got dressed and stuff and then we decided that we would play Karaoke. We could sing in groups or by ourselves but Nick and Aaron couldn't sing their own songs. Aaron's parent's didn't take part in this because they didn't think they were 'young and hip' like us, so they just watched and judged us from 1-10.  
Nick sang 'Heaven' by Bryan Adams. He got a 9. BJ sang 'Fallin' by Alicia Keys. She got a 8. Angel sang 'How Do I Live?' by LeAnn Rimes. She got a 8. And finally, me and Aaron decided to sing a song together called 'I'll Be There' by Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenez. We got a perfect score of 10! Everybody was surprised by my voice. They thought I had real talent. I just thought I sucked.  
I spent the whole day in my room. I don't know why, I just wasn't feeling well so I decided to stay in my room in the A/C and read a good book called Babylon Boys. I ended up falling asleep and when I woke up, Aaron was standing over me.  
"Sorry, did I wake you?" He asked.  
"No, you just startled me."  
"How was your nap?"  
"It was okay."  
"Did you dream about anything?"  
"Yeah."  
"Can you share with me?"  
I laughed. "It was a ridiculous dream."  
"So what? Just tell me."  
"No, it's sort of embarrassing."  
"Just tell me. Please?"  
"Fine. I had a dream of me and you getting back together." I looked down for a minute and then I looked straight at him. "Don't worry. I understand that you just want to be friends."  
Aaron cut me off. "No. You don't understand, I don't just want to be friends with you. Being friends with you is great, but it's so hard. I've been wanting to be with you since we separated."  
I smiled. "Are you serious?"  
"Yes." He smiled back. "I'm serious."  
I hugged him. "You're really great. You know that?" I smiled.  
"Well a lot of my girl fans think that, so of course I knew." He joked.  
"Oh shut up!" I laughed.  
  
The next day while I was doing my hair, I spotted my wedding ring on my bureau. There was a piece of paper near it. I picked it up, and read it. It said 'Will you marry me, again?'. My mouth fell open. I was running towards my bedroom door to go ask Aaron if it was true, but he was already standing in my door way smiling.  
"Are you? Did you?" I was studdering.  
"Yeah, I put that there." He said.  
"You can't be asking me this right?" I asked him, showing him the paper.  
"Yeah I am. That's why I put it there."  
My mouth was wide open. "You're playing a mean joke on me Aaron."  
"No I'm not." He laughed. "I'm seriously asking you."  
"Oh my gosh." I said. "Um, uh."  
"So is it a yes or no?" Aaron asked smiling.  
"Yes!" I screamed. "I love you!" We hugged and then we went to tell his family. They seemed happy with the decision.  
"I can't believe it!!" Angel said, running up to me. She was more excited than I was. "You're my sister-in-law again!" She whispered in my ear. "I told you so." She grinned. I smiled at her.  
I called my mom to tell her the big news. She was happy and she even said she was gonna drive all the way to Florida so she could be at my wedding! I was so happy. My life was actually starting to get better. I was still hurting from my attack, but I getting better. The cops had found Matt and we had a court date which was scheduled after Aaron and I's wedding.  
After the wedding, I had to get ready to face Matt in court. I felt a little nervous but I had no choice. This guy needed to be put behind bars before he hurts me or anyone else again. One night while at the dinner table, Aaron noticed that I wasn't eating much.  
"Are you okay?" Aaron asked.  
"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.  
"Don't lie. You're not good at it."  
"I'm just nervous about tomorrow."  
"Don't be."  
"How can I not? I'm gonna be sitting in the same room as the guy who attacked me. How do you expect me to react?"  
"I don't know. But just remember, you're gonna be able to put him behind bars, so you're gonna be safe."  
"No I won't. Last time he was behind bars, he escaped remember?"  
"Well he won't this time. This is his second time going to court. He'll probley end up in a bigger prison where there's no where to escape."  
"I hope so."  
  
The next day when we went to court, there were news reporters everywhere, poparazzi, people yelling, fans screaming for Aaron, and hundreds of people trying to jam pack themselves in the court room. While the lawyers had a long chat, me and Matt had to wait in the hallway. We sat on separate benches. We looked at each other for a moment. He walked up to me and sat down next to me. He looked at me again, but he actually looked like he was about to cry. And he did.  
"Amanda, I'm, so, so, sorry." He started. Tears came out of his eyes. He looked at my arms and the huge bruises I had on them. They still hadn't healed. "I didn't mean to attack you. I was just, so, so, mad."  
"You still had NO right to do this to me." I started crying too. "I didn't do anything to you. You just flipped out and started hurting me. Nothing you say can change what you did. You made me look like a monster. I have bruises all over me, I have a huge black eye, I have a bunch of scratches on me, I can't name everything that happened but you put me through a lot of pain."  
"I said I was sorry."  
"Well I'm sorry too, but I don't know if I can forgive you."  
Our lawyers called us to go into the court room. While walking in, everybody stared at us. Matt wiped his tears away quickly, and I tried wiping mine away too. Aaron saw me and came up to my side. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm fine." I answered. Matt and I sat in our seats with our lawyers and the trial began.  
My lawyer showed the judge pictures of my bruises, scratches, and scars and stuff I had from the attack. My lawyer put it on a big screen so the jury could see them too. I didn't look at them. I looked at Matt and he put his head down and looked ashamed. He should be. At the end of the trial, Matt was found guilty. He was sentenced to prison for 45 years. Some of his family was mad because they thought the punishment was harsh, but he almost killed me! He deserved his punishment. While the guards put the cuffs on Matt, he looked at me and started crying again. He walked past me and then he stopped. He looked back at me and said sorry. I went up to him and hugged him. We cried for about 3 seconds and then the guards pulled him away. I told him I forgived him after all and he thanked me. Before I knew it, he was gone.  
Aaron ran up to me and hugged me. "Was it that bad?" He asked.  
"A little."  
"I gotta ask you something though."  
"What?"  
"How come you forgave him? After all he put you through."  
"People change. Besides, the Lord says to always forgive. So, I forgave him. You just gotta believe that he'll change. Always believe."  
Aaron just smiled at me as if understanding what I meant. I smiled back at him. 


End file.
